First Ever Attempt - Indoor Closet - Done A Lot Of Reading & Welcome Advice!

[negativeions]

Hi Everyone

Firstly this site is really great, I got started, did some reading, then decided to start again, and now I am under way so thought I would post where I am up to. Big thanks for all of your useful posts, comments and advice in all other parts of this forum!

This set-up is about 2.5ft x 2ft x 5ft in area. Its designed for 1-2 plants.

Enclosure

2 x closets, side by side, MDF with plastic type lining. Cooling/air filtering goes between the two.

Lighting

Lighting is 2x36 watt cool white fluorescents mounted vertically up each side, and 4 x 11W at the top, which can be moved up and down.

When flowering starts I am moving to a 400W HPS instead of the CFLs at the top, but keeping the side ones in place.

Cooling

1 x 120mm case fan mounted halfway up the right hand side 40-50 CFM, into a 120mm 90 degree pipe. Sealed with silicone.

Odor Filtering

Home made carbon scrubber to be constructed and installed this week.

Seeds:

Caramelicious

This plant is easy to grow - good for beginners.
Caramelicious Strain Specifications
Type : Indica/sativa
Climate : indoor
Yield : 450 gram / m2
Height : 35 - 65 cm
Flowering period : 8 - 9 weeks
Stone type : Happy High
Grow Difficulty : good for beginners

Images

I am planting 2 so there is a 50/50 chance of a female - having read the formula that you get over 90% chance of a female with 6 plants I just cant risk 6 females!

I tested the soil ph at it is about 6 to 6.5 which from what I have read seems ok.

These are my seeds, in this picture they havent sunk yet, but they sank, and I soaked them for 24 hours when a little white root came out, I planted them. I read that they should be kept in a warm dark place and they were, also I watered them with water that was aired out for a while and brought up to room temperature first (actually it had been boiled).

This is a photo of my setup. The girls (?) are sitting down the bottom in their little pots.

Close Up

This is my 400W HPS

My extraction fan

Wiring and power, I am also going to put my carbon scrubber here, and my timer.

So thanks for reading, I will endeavour to update as much as possible as I need all the help I can get! I planted them 24 hours ago, no signs of life yet

 

[stonerheid]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

looking good m8,would watch those temps when you go up to the 400w

 

[Electricthom]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

Looking good, you're in the right place for help these members give the best advice, perfect for newbies like us. Two things to keep in mind IMO:
Most MDF is made with and emit formaldehyde but they do now make one formaldehyde free,
The second heat rises so getting that fan as high in the cab as possible will exhaust the heat better which will come in handy when you switch to that HPS. Looking forward to seeing your DIY carbon filter. I need to try and make one myself being on a tight budget. the buck add up I'm up to $380-$400 invested in my grow now and still need a 600W HPS for a 5X5 flower tent. Will follow along,

PS look into a reflector for that HPS fixture, foil wont keep heat away from wood above and it does not reflect light very well and it can cause "hot" spots that can burn your plants too. Sheet metal painted flat white with a layer of fiberglass on top would be worlds safer and better than the foil.

 

[209 Cali C.G]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

love closet grows

 

[preprodigy]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

very nice set up, now lets see what she can produce

 

[negativeions]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

looking good m8,would watch those temps when you go up to the 400w

Thanks very much. On the temp thing, what I am thinking of doing is moving the fan up OR, installing another one.

Two things to keep in mind IMO:
Most MDF is made with and emit formaldehyde but they do now make one formaldehyde free,
The second heat rises so getting that fan as high in the cab as possible will exhaust the heat better which will come in handy when you switch to that HPS. Looking forward to seeing your DIY carbon filter. I need to try and make one myself being on a tight budget. the buck add up I'm up to $380-$400 invested in my grow now and still need a 600W HPS for a 5X5 flower tent. Will follow along,

PS look into a reflector for that HPS fixture, foil wont keep heat away from wood above and it does not reflect light very well and it can cause "hot" spots that can burn your plants too. Sheet metal painted flat white with a layer of fiberglass on top would be worlds safer and better than the foil.

Thanks for the advice. I will look at changing the reflector. Actually I dont think its MDF I think its particle board, so should be ok. Still working on the scrubber, its a box scrubber.

love closet grows

very nice set up, now lets see what she can produce

Thanks, starting to get nervous haha!

Well one popped out her head today

 

[Electricthom]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

God for you. I am a couple months in and the nervous excitement doesn't quit, enjoy.

 

[negativeions]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

God for you. I am a couple months in and the nervous excitement doesn't quit, enjoy.

I looked at your grow previously, those plants are awesome.

Couple of updates

 

[donpaul.p]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

hi, great journal so far, i also grew with cfls and went into flower with them, but i ended up using nearly 400 watts actual with cfls so i just switched to 400watt dual spectrum hps to flower them off with, when i was using up to 15 cfls around 30 actual watts each i struggled to keep the temps high enough in a 3ft by 3ft grow cupboard that is floor to ceiling high, but since switching to hps i struggle to keep them temps down now, so have to leave the door slightly open when the lights on, so im thinking its going to get pretty toasted in that cupboard very quick and it will push the temps right up, you may need to add more fans to remove the hot air from the room.

i found with cfls that they produce very little stretch, in fact my plants wouldnt get taller they just bushed out, i lst'd them and topped them and now their well into flower, they look like their under a scrog but i just lst and topped during veg, this gave me an even canopy with at least 20 main bud sites, although since switching to the hps i have noticed the plants are stretching more and i have now got 5 or 6 main top bud sites so far.

cfls do work and will get the plants to flower, but using hps will produce more solid buds, so its worth switching, just be careful about the heat cuz those lights put out loads of heat both from the bulb and balast, but looks like you got a good idea of what your doing so im probably telling you something you all ready know.

feel free to check my journal out and have a read, some great pics and tips on their and you can see how my plants turned out and how they look like their under a scrog,

but look forward to watching your grow mate

 

[UKsecret]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

Good going man, ill be watching this with interest as my grow space (first grow also) is similar to yours, also with a 400w hps. I've managed to just squeeze a normal 3 speed, 12 inch desk fan in mine pointing at the wall and it seems to keep the temperature down quite well. I've slowly been lowering my light closer to my plant (which is 2 weeks into flower) and its now roughly 30 inches from the top of it and looks like its handling it quite well. For ventilation I have a 4 inch diameter hole high in one wall ready for a proper inline fan etc when I can afford one and 2 grilled vents in my door one high, one low. One thing a friend does keep drilling into me is humidity in such a small space, and how I should keep some wet/moist towels in my cupboard if I can't afford a humidifier. Something you might also want to consider in such a small space is doing a 2 liter hempy bucket grow, which is what ill be doing when my 'practice plant' is done. I'd never seen such a thing till I came to this forum and it definitely looks like the way to go if you're short on space. Good luck man.

 

[donpaul.p]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

@uk secret, are you having humidity problems then mate, im not far from you in the big picture of things, and my humidity is always between 45 and 55 without adding anything to the room, i was getting higher humidity figures when i was using cfls, but now im using hps its warmed things up a bit, i think 45 is the best for flower and between 55 and 60 for veg, thats what ive been told anyway, my grow space keeps it around the right humidity figures without adding anything to the room, have you got a gauge to check humidity because its usually higher than you think

 

[UKsecret]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

yeah, i got a temperature/humidity meter (just the other day!) i couldn't tell you my exact figures cos im not at home at the moment btut its somewhere in the range of 35-45%. I was using moist towels as per my friends advice throughout the veg, but stopped when i switched to 12/12. just in case the humidity dropped as i gradually lowered my light, i put my plant pot in a washing up bowl, to use as a kind of resovoir for watering in the hope that the larger surface area of water may aid evaporation and humidity. all seems to be well so far, if i can figure it out i'll post a pic.

 

[UKsecret]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

sorry, double post

 

[UKsecret]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

the light is now level with the knot in the rope on the left hand side.

 

[fish cake]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

I looked at your grow previously, those plants are awesome.

Couple of updates

love the baby pictures thats half the battle getting those little buggers to come out of their shell. very nice set up also. I think you will do well lots of good help here so keep us updated. cheers mate

 

[donpaul.p]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

id say the light at know height should be ok, but you will need to keep on top of raising it as the plant stretches, in flower you want humidity slightly lower than what it was in veg, so anything above 35 and upto 45 would be a good range for flower cycle, the hps will evap more water out the leaves and grow medium so humidity may go up slightly with the light,

nice set up though, should give good yield looking at the plant, subd cant wait to see how this finishes, mines been in flower a few weeks now so buds are forming and their just getting interesting now, problem is i got to many plants going on, need to flower some off then get the next lot of plants that are in veg into flower then when i have done all that im going to start fresh and veg under the dual spec hps and compare the growth to the cfls

 

[UKsecret]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

im the opposite of you man, i've only got one plant and its in flower! gonna have to risk taking cuttings now if i want to continue the grow.

 

[donpaul.p]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

its well worth takingg cuttings if you plan on another grow, how ever their is always herbies head shop, their a sponsor on here and sell seeds from as little as £1.50 plus postage another £3, but the best part is even if you only buy 1 seed then they send you 3 for free, 2 of one strain and one from something else, usually get fem seed or auto seed, plus 2 others.
the single seeds are under pick and mix section on the right hand side of their page, i have purchased from them and they are based in UK and get them to you the very next day, they always send 3 free seeds with every order, but if you buy 10 seeds then you get even more for free,

now your plants are under 12-12 when do you plan on taking cuttings, if you take them at day 21 of flower, ie 21 days after the light was switched to 12-12 then this makes the cuttings do something called super cropping, it sort of shocks the plant into growing loads and loads of branches, so even though the cutting will be in flower mode put it under 24-0 hours of light and then it will go back into veg and produce loads and loads of branches, it always worth taking cuttings as long as you know its female cuz that way you know you have got female plants for the next grow, thats the problem with seeds, i had to take 2 plants out of my grow yesterday as they was male so i removed them and moved another 1 in from my veg room, im trying to get these flowered off then ill mother a clone and use it for taking clones with in the future then ill flower off the rest i got in veg and start again when their done with different strains.

i have also grown 2 seeds to be planted outdoors with some guerrilla gardening but the weather has been really crap so dont think ill be getting an outdoor crop going this time round, but cuttings are the way to go unless you buy femenised seeds, or take a risk like i did,

when i first started i purchased 1 x special kush seed for £2 from herbies and he sent me 2x big bud#2 for free and 1 x northern lights cross big bud femenised, so i soaked these and grew them, my dog at one of the big bud#2 plants and the other grew and was the best plant out of the lot, but when i flowered it it was clearly a hermie, so im growing it elsewhere to get the pollen so i can use it one a female plant then ill have my own strain of 100% femenised seeds so thats my plan, anyway i grew the special kush from the only seed i purchased and that turned out female, the nl x bb femenised was also female so thats what ive got in flower now, the other plants i have got in veg or from another site, i got sent 10x ak47 cross uk cherry cheese for free without purchase from another site that offers a free seed promotion with no purchase every so often so thats what im growing now, well i have got 4 plants left, 2 in flower and 1 has shown its female, i removed 2 males yesterday so moved the 1 i had got in veg into flower so now ive got my cuttings left and 2 x ak47 cross in veg, plus my auto's. one in flower and one still in veg, so i got a lot going on.

but check herbies head shop, great deals every time you order, very secure and discreet so no concerns their and next day delivery as long as your order is placed in the morning, if then it will be with you withing 48 hours, every seed i have had from their sprouted and grew,

attitude seed bank is also a good place and give new customers free seeds but think you need to spend some money to get some free seeds, but herbies head shop gives free seeds with every order,
at the moment herbie is giving away the following with every order
1 x delicious cotten candy femenised, ( sounds nice )
2 x big bud#2
so the 3 seeds above come with any order even if you only buy 1 seed

the last time i ordered some seeds from him i got 2x big bud#2 and reserva privada sour kush also known as head band, this free seed cost 4 times more than the single seed i purchased so its not like he is giving away cheap seeds, you usually always get 2x big bud#2 which is a very nice plant and i was gutted when it went hermie as it was by far the best plant so ive got some seeds left of that to try with my 3rd grow, and i have got the reserva left to plant as well, ive not sprouted them yet as its a strain i never heard of, but they will be my 3rd grow, after i have flowered off all i have got so i can start again from scratch and grow some decent size plants under the hps

soz just checked and his cheapest seed is £1.24p
click on this link below then scroll down past the 1st 2 seeds strains and then you will come to them in price order, theirs hundreds to choose from for next to nothing and some very nice strains and looks amazing, im working my way through the list
! Herbies Head Shop - Search for Under 20 Pounds

 

[donpaul.p]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

i also find that he sells the seeds single instead of in packs and he has seeds from all the seed banks and if you go to their site and compare how much their charging for their own strain on their own web site then you will find they tend to charge more than herbies does for the same seeds that he is selling on their behalf, plus most banks on sell packs of 5 or 10, but herbies must have at least 500 seeds you can buy 1 of, plus get 3 free with every order

 

[UKsecret]

Re: First ever attempt, done a lot of reading and welcome help! Indoor closet!

nice, cheers for that mate. will deffo have a go at supercropping sounds like just the thing i need with only having one grow space. do the cuttings have to be take exactly 21 days into flower, or will 1-2 days either way be adequate cos im not sure exactly when i flipped the lights?